Hospital utility cabinet



July 14, 1959 J. R. MAYS HOSPITAL UTILITY CABINET 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 11, 1956 v H'\IVENTOR JAMES A. MAYS ATTORNEYS J. R. MAYS HOSPITAL UTILITY CABINET July 14, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 17, 1956 INVENTOR 'JAM'S A? M475 v BY r ATTORNEYS- July 14, 1959 J. R. MAYS 2,894,794

HOSPITAL UTILITY CABINET Filed Sept. 17, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 jj yld Y INVENTOR JAMES/e MAX? BY [Z 09.- 4.9;.

ORNEYS HOSPITAL UTILITY CABINET James R. Mays, Philadelphia, Pa. Application September 17, 1956, Serial No. 610,237

3 Claims. (Cl. 312-313) The present invention relates to hospital utility cabinets.

The purpose of the invention is to provide an over-bed table which can be supported from a hospital utility cabinet, will be adjustable, and will be retracted out of the way against the cabinet.

A further purpose of the invention is to mount an overbed table on a drawer sliding in a cabinet, desirably positioning the table so that it is adjustable as to height and permissibly also as to angle.

A further purpose is to mount a swivel, preferably a counterweighted swivel, near the front of the drawer, to make the swivel adjustable as to height and angular position, to support a journal arm at the top of the swivel, to mount a journal around the journal arm, to secure an over bed table to the journal and to provide for latching the journal with respect to the journal arm.

A further purpose is to provide a towel rack or towel racks in the drawer desirably extending longitudinally.

A further purpose is to provide a top support for a television set on an over-bed table or cabinet.

A further purpose is to provide guiding roller means on the bottom of the drawer so that the drawer is adequately supported when extended, thus providing better support for an over-bed table mounted on the drawer.

A further purpose is to economize on hospital fioor space and locate a utility cabinet including a lavatory and preferably also a toilet, thus encouraging the patient to help himself and saving the time of the nurse.

A further purpose is to permit ready access of the patient to personal articles in a utility cabinet located near the bed.

A further purpose is to provide an over-bed table which is suitable in a maternity ward for supporting a bassinet and which will assist the mother in caring for an infant while in the hospital.

A further purpose is to permit the over-bed table to swing away from the bed so that it can be used by ambulatory patients for various purposes, such as serving meals while the patient is sitting in a chair, writing, etc.

A further purpose is to generally economize on the nurses time by providing the various facilities needed by the nurse in caring for the patient conveniently located adjacent the hospital bed.

Further purposes appear in the specification and in the claims.

In the drawings I have chosen to illustrate one only of the numerous embodiments in which my invention may appear, selecting the forms shown from the standpoints of convenience in illustration, satisfactory operation and clear demonstration of the principles involved.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the utility cabinet of the invention, with the drawer, over-bed table and toilet shown in phantom in extended position, and the bed shown in phantom.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the structure shown in Figure 1, with an over-bed table shown raised in phantom and the bed shown in phantom.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3--3 of Figure 2, with d States Patent ICC the extended drawer and the raised over-bed table shown in phantom.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the extended drawer at the right of the cabinet.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse section on the line 6-6 of Figure 5 showing the table top or platform extending down along the front of the drawer.

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 showing the table top or platform in raised or horizontal position.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary top plan view showing the corner of the utility cabinet with the drawer extended and the table top raised.

Figure 9 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 9,9 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a side elevation of the structure of Figure 8 to reduced scale.

Figure 11 is a top plan view of the structure of Figure 8.

Describing in illustration, but not in limitation, and referring to the drawings:

In the prior art efforts have been made to produce utility cabinets for hospital use, but in general the devices ofiered on the market have been complicated, expensive and unsatisfactory.

The present invention is concerned with an improved utility cabinet and over-bed table which will benefit both the patient and the hospital personnel. The cabinet assists the patient in helping himself and in improving his assurance and self reliance during convalescence, and avoids delay in meeting the needs of the patient, thus contributing to the peace of mind of the patient. The cabinet is also beneficial to the hospital personnel by avoiding unnecessary calls upon the nurse, saving steps and time for the nurse, and providing the nurse with the facilities needed immediately adjacent the hospital bed.

The utility cabinet also is of great assistance in the case of maternity patients since it enables the mother to retain the child in a bassinet on the over-bed table and also permits the mother to care for the child by making available facilities for bathing, changing diapers, and the like.

The utility cabinet invention also assists the patient in relaxation and entertainment by providing a conveniently located and readily adjustable television, by supporting books and other items likely to be used by the patient, and by assisting the patient in reading or writing whether in bed or out of bed.

Considering now the drawings in detail, I provide a cabinet body 20 having a front wall 21, a rear wall 22, and side walls 23 and 24, the walls suitably resting on the iloor, desirably at one side of but near the head of the bed at 25.

The cabinet has a gliding table top 26 which is preferably of L shape, extending in retracted position across the rear and one side of the front, and in forward position projecting out longitudinally of the bed. The gliding table top slides on a track and roller combination 26 and has a protecting rim 27. A convenient use for the gliding table top as shown is to support a television set 28, which may be either disposed on the normal rear portion of the gliding table top, or can be pulled into the forwardly extending portion as the patient may prefer. The gliding table top can be used to hold various personal articles of the patient, and can also be used to assist in routine nursing care. Beneath the gliding table top 26 and accessible in retracted position drawers 30 and 31 are provided which will suitably hold personal items of the patient or supplies.

The front portion of the top of the cabinet at one side is provided with a wash basin 32 having faucets 33 connected to a source of hot and cold running water and having a drain 34 connected to the sewer. The entire fixed top of the cabinet provides a watertight drainage surface 35 which drains into the wash basin. The drainage surface is surrounded by a watertight rim 36.

Desirably superimposed above the gliding top and supported at the back, I provide cabinets 39 for bed linen and the patients personal clothing, preferably having mirror or other decorative doors.

At one side of the front, the cabinet in one embodiment of the invention is provided with a hinged toilet 38 of the character commonly employed in pullman bedrooms, which is suitably connected to flushing facilities and to the drain. In lieu of the toilet storage space may be used at the left side of the front.

On the opposite side of the front the cabinet has a drawer opening 40 provided with drawer guides 41 which mount a drawer 42. The drawer desirably has a front portion 43, a rear portion 44 and bottom portion 45 and sides 45' supporting the roller glides. The front and rear portions 43 and 44 are connected at the top by longitudinally extending laterally spaced towel racks or bars 46 which permit the handling of towels or other articles to dry. Ventilation is permitted by louvers 37 strategically located over the sides of the cabinet. The drawer is open to the interior of the cabinet at the sides near the top.

At one corner of the front, suitably adjacent to the bed, the drawer front 43 supports a swivel tube 47, best seen in Figure 9, and suitably extending up to about the top of the drawer front 43. The swivel tube receives a vertically extending swivel 48 which readily telescopes therein and is guided and supported by the swivel tube. The swivel is suitably tubular and has a lower end plug 50 which engages helical compression spring 51 extending in the bottom of the swivel tube against a bottom closure 52.

The swivel tube suitably near its upper end has a latch pivot mounting 53 which pivotally supports a latch 54 which is urged toward latching position by a spring 55 and has a latching end 56 which extends in through an opening in the swivel tube at 57 and engages selectively any one of a group of vertically and angularly placed cooperating holes 58 in the swivel.

The swivel at its upper end mounts and is desirably integral with a horizontally extending journal arm 60 which is surrounded by a journal tube 61 which is secured suitably at one end to a platform or table top 62. The attachment between the platform and the journal tube is desirably accomplished by anchor straps 63, and the journal tube is prevented from sliding off the end of the journal arm in any suitable manner as by an enlarged head 64 on the journal arm.

The angular relation between the journal arm and the journal tube is determined by a latch 65 pivoted on the journal tube at 66, urged toward latching position by a spring 67 and having a latching end 68 which extends through an opening 70 in the journal tube and through one of a series of cooperating angularly disposed openings 71 in the journal arm.

In operation, it will be understood, of course, that the use of the wash basin, toilet and television will follow normal practice according to the desires of the user.

The towel racks in the drawer will be used either by pulling out the towel rack drawer and leaving the drawer opened to dry the towels, or pulling out the drawer, placing the towels on the rack and closing the drawer allowing circulation to take place through the louvers.

In operation of the over-bed table, the user will pull out the drawer, release latch 65, raise the platform or table top and then reengage latch 65 to support the platform or table top horizontally. The user will then release latch 54, raise the swivel and table top to the desired height and also swing the swivel to the desired angle and then reengage latch 54 in the correct opening in the swivel both with respect to height and angular 4 position. The raising of the table is assisted by the counterweight spring.

The table can be adjusted either to extend transversely across the bed or to extend longitudinally of the bed if the patient wishes to sit on the side of the bed. Likewise the table can be adjusted to conform to a comfortable position when the patient sits in a chair adjacent to the front of the utility cabinet, as for reading, writing or the like.

Figure 8 illustrates the position of the over-bed table extending transversely across the bed and this is also shown in Figure 10, which illustrates the motion of the drawer in and out by arrow 72, illustrates the raising and lowering of the table by arrow 73 and illustrates the swinging up of the table top by arrow 74. Figure 11 illustrates that the drawer can move in and out to move the over-bed table longitudinally of the bed by arrow 75, and that the over-bed table can swivel as suggested by arrow 76.

In order to assist in providing stability for the over-bed table and the drawer, pivot brackets 77 extend down suitably from the center near the front of the drawer and journal a caster or roller 78 which rides the floor and is preferably not provided with any swivel, thus giving lateral stability to the bottom of the drawer in respect to a torque couple by the weight on the over-bed table.

The drawer is provided with a pull-out 80 which is located near the top of the platform or table top in retracted position, and which in an erected position provides a convenient handle for engagement by the user in manipulating the table.

In view of my invention and disclosure, variations and modifications to meet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident to others skilled in the art to obtain all or part of the benefits of my invention without copying the structure shown, and I, therefore, claim all such insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of my claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A table combination comprising a piece of furniture having a drawer opening, and a drawer slideable in the drawer opening, having a rear drawer portion and a front drawer support, in combination with a swivel mounting on the front drawer support, a swivel swingable in the swivel mounting, a horizontal journal arm mounted on the swivel, a bearing journaled on the journal arm, a platform mounted on the journal arm bearing and having a retracted position in which the platform extends in a vertical position across the front of the drawer and a horizontal position in which the platform forms a table top, and latching means interconnecting the journal arm and the journal arm bearing in selected positions of the platform.

2. A table combination of claim 1, in combination with angularly adjustable positioning means for the swivel and vertically adjustable positioning means for the swivel.

3. A table combination comprising a cabinet having a drawer opening, a drawer slideable in the cabinet comprising a drawer body, in combination with a platform associated with the drawer and in one position extending vertically to form the front of the drawer, a vertical swivel guide tube mounted adjacent the front of the drawer, a vertical swivel extending through the swivel guide tube, latch means coacting between the swivel guide tube and the swivel to permit interconnection of the same in relatively adjusted vertical positions, latch means coacting between the swivel guide tube and the swivel to permit interconnection of the same in relatively adjusted angular positions, a journal arm extending horizontally from the top of the swivel guide tube, a journal surrounding the journal arm and latch means selectively interconnecting the journal arm and the journal at a plurality of angularly adjusted positions,

the journal being connected to and supporting the platform.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Lewing Apr. 12, 1892 Pauly July 9, 1895 Tucker Sept. 3, 1901 Lucas Apr. 1, 1924 Topazzi Feb. 24, 1925 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain May 31, 1934 

